Quantitative trait loci analysis and genome- wide comparison for silique related traits in Brassica napus

Background Yield of rapeseed is determined by three components: silique number, seed number per silique and thousand seed weight. Seed number per silique and thousand seed weight are influenced by silique length, seed density, silique breadth, silique thickness and silique volume. Some QTLs for silique traits have been reported in B. napus, however, no studies have focused on the six agronomic traits (seed number per silique, silique length, silique breadth, silique thickness, seed density and silique volume) simultaneously, and the genetic determinism of such complex traits have not been fully elucidated.